Hitching or releasing device for horses.



No. 781,770. PATENTED JUNE 23, 1 .908.

H. 0. LL. HITOHING OR RBLEA VICE FOR HORSES.

APPLIGATIO .4.

GR BI navsmro.

UNITED STATES Patented June 23, 1903.

FFICE.

ATENT HITCHING OR RELEASIING DEVICE FOR HORSES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N 0. 731,770, dated June 23, 1903. Applicationfiled August 4, 1902. Serial No. 118,272. (N d To ctZZ whom, it may concern."

Be it known that I, HENRY (J. GnAY' ILL,a citizen of the United States, residing at A1 toona, in the county of Blair and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in I-Iitching or Releasing Devices for Horses; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to'the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. M

This invention relates to hitching devices for horses, and has especial reference to its use in fire-engine house The object of theinvention is to provide a hitching device by means of which when the stall-door is closed the horse will be securely hitched up and cannot release himself; but the moment the door is opened and the horse comes out of his stall he will by his forward movement automatically release himself.

The invention consists in an automatic releasing hitching device for horses and in details thereof, as hereinafter set forth and claimed. i

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which similar figures of reference indicate like parts, Figure 1 illustrates a hitching de: vice for horses constructedin accordance with thisinvention and shown in the position when the horse is hitched up. Fig. 2 illustrates the position of the device when the horse is releasing himself. Fig. 3 isa detail showing I the construction of the hitching-chain. Fig.

5o able means,

4 is'a detail showing the snap-catch and its connecting-link at the end of the chain. Fig.

5 is a longitudinafview of the snap-hook,

showing casing partly broken away.

In carrying out this invention a chain 1 is employed of any suitable construction and preferably of the form shown and as more particularly hereinafter described. This chain 1 has a loose and sliding connection at its inner end by means of a link 2 with an open-ended staple 3,-which is fastened in a horizontal position by screws 4 or other suitat its butt-end 5, to the door-post 6, which is located at the front of the stall.

The outer end of the staple 3 points toward the door of the stall and may abut against the door when it is closed or project into a hole'therein. In connection with the chain 1 is employed a rope, strap, or chain 7, which preferably passes lengthwise through the chain 1 and is loosely connected at its inner end by means of a link 8 to the rear end of staple 3 and has a sliding connection therewith by means of the curved slot 9 therein.

The outer end of the chain 1 is provided with a snap-hook 10, which may be of any suitable construction and which, as here shown, is formed with a rigid hook 11 and a releasingspring-pin 12, closing said hook and connected at its rear end to the strap '7. The snap-hook 10 is connected to the chain 1 by means of the curved link 13, hinged to a projection 14, at one side of the end of the snaphook 10, whereby the outer end of the link 13 abuts against the snap-hook 10 to lock it against folding in one direction, but permitting it to do so in the opposite direction.

A swivel-link may be employed to take the place of the halter-ring, and consists of the ring 13"", swiveled to the piece 16, which has a small loop 17, with which the halter-tug can be connected, and an oblong loop for the jawstrap to pass through.

The chain 1 is of a particular construction, as shown in Fig. 3, and is constructed of links 18, formed of the sectional pieces 19, stamped out and bent into shape, with the arms or lips 20 connected together by pivot-pins 21 and with the holes 22, through which the strap 7 extends.

The operation of the device is as follows: When'the stall-door is closed and the staple 3 is closed at its outer end thereby, the horse cannotpossibly release himself. As he moves back in the stall when he reaches the limit of the length of the chain 1, which is shorter than the chain or strap 7, the pull comes on the chain 1, the link 2, and the staple 3. Now when the stall-door is opened and the horse advances and leaves the stall the chain 1 is pulled forward, the link 2 becomes loose on the staple 3, and tension is brought to bear on the strap 7, which now takes up the pull instead of the chain 1, thereby causing the spring-pin 12 to be retracted and the ring 13 to escape from the snap-hook. When the link 2 becomes loose on the staple 3, as

aforesaid, the chain 1 becomes slack and there is a buckling movement of the snaphook 10 and the link 13 at their pivotal connection. At the same time the link 8 is brought to end of slot 9, and the pull is brought to bear on the strap 7, thereby retracting the spring-pin 12 and permitting escape of the ring 13, as aforesaid.

As this invention embraces in its general features a hitching device by means of which under certain conditions a horse may release himself, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact details of construction set forth, and it is obvious that the construction and relative arrangement of the two chains or ropes or straps and their connections may be varied without departing from the essential features of the invention.

1 claim- 1. An automatically-releasable hitching device for horses, consisting of the combination with a fixed staple, of two hitching straps or chains, of diiferent lengths each having a sliding connection at one end with said staple, and a releasing-catch at the end of one of said chains, which is in operative connection with the other chain, as herein set forth.

2. An automatically-releasablehitchingdevice for horses, consisting of a fixed, openended staple, in combination with two hitching straps, or chains, having a sliding connection at one end with said staple, and a releasing-catch at the other end of one of said chains, and operatively connected, to be opened, with the other chain, as herein set forth.

3. An automatically-releasable hitchingdevice for horses, consisting of a staple, in combination with two hitching straps or chains, one having a limited sliding connection, and the other a loose unlimited sliding connection with the staple, and a releasing-catchat the outer end of one of said chains, and in operative connection, to be released,with the other chain, as herein set forth.

4. An automatically-releasable hitching device, consisting of a horizontal staple, mounted at one end, and open at the other, and having a curved slot in its rear end, a chain having a link at its inner end loosely mounted to slide on the staple, a snap-hook on the outer end of the chain, in combination with a second strap or chain having a sliding link connection with the staple in its curved slot, and connected at its outer end with the pin of the snap-hook as herein set forth.

5. An automatically-releasablehitchingdevice for horses, comprising a strap or chain, a snap-hook having a fixed hook, and a springpresscd releasing-pin, a curved link connecting the snap-hook to one end of said strap or chain, and a second strap or chain connected at one end to the releasing-pin of the snaphook, and means for slidably securing the opposite ends of said straps or chains.

6. An automatically-releasablehitching device for horses, comprising a chain consisting of links having arms bent and pivotally secured together, and end openings, a strap or chain of greater length than the first-named chain and extending through the openings therein, and releasing devices secured to said chains.

7. Anautomatically-releasablehitchingdevice for horses, comprising a staple consisting of a base, and a curved horizontally-disposed arm having a curved slot, chains or straps of different lengths slidably attached to said staple, and a releasing device attached to said straps or chains.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

HENRY O. GRAYBILL.

Witnesses:

JOHN F. LEAR, W. T. BURNS. 

